It is always fascinating to compare a conductor’s
views on a work or composer from one period in their career to another,
and Sir Simon Rattle’s association with Stravinsky has been a
very long term affair. Many will know his EMI box set (see
review),
which is a very fine collection by any standards. This new recording
of
The Rite of Spring with the Berlin Philharmonic has created
controversy in some quarters, but there seem to be more similarities
than differences here with the Birmingham recording and the only thing
I found myself wondering is why it would displease anyone.
There is an intensity and verve in the Birmingham recording which has
gained many admirers, and there is something of a trade-off between
this and the greater refinement of the Berlin playing. Rattle’s
direction is never less than gripping however, and even with his trademark
measured tempi the tension and excitement builds remarkably effectively.
The animal and bird sounds of the first part
Introduction encroach
onto Messiaen territory here, such is the distinctness of each utterance.
The scenic character of each section passes by your imagination with
startling definition, and the clarity of the recording means you hear
little details missed in other versions. The brass is particularly potent,
getting your teeth rattling at the opening of the
Jeu des cités
rivales, and though this is a performance full of virtuoso high
jinx we’re never pushed beyond the intention of the work and the
roughness and brutality expressed in detail through Stravinsky’s
score.
I always like to go back to the source with this kind of thing, and
Stravinsky’s own tremendous recording of
The Rite of Spring
can be had in the must-have Sony big box set (see
review).
I always forget how intense this recording is, with a somewhat artificial
but truly gritty orchestral sound and the real sense that you are up
amongst the sweat and bruises of the dancers. Rattle’s is a rich
experience, and there is no escaping the benefit of modern technology
when it comes to the recorded sound, but bouncing between the two makes
you realise quite how ‘inside’ the music Stravinsky brings
us. Rattle’s is fabulous and impassioned, but remains a landscape
of the mind as much as a physical assault on the senses. Just compare
the
Glorification de l’élue and the final
Danse
sacrale in the second part of the work. Where Rattle shakes a powerful
fist, Stravinsky somehow manages to rip the very air in front of our
faces.
I raved about Andrew Litton’s BIS recording of
Le Sacre du
printemps not so long ago (see
review),
so I can’t get away without comparing these two. I have to admit
Rattle gets more character into the burgeoning fauna of the
Introduction,
but after that it’s more a question of recording perspective.
Tempi are roughly the same in the
Augurs of Spring and elsewhere,
but the BIS engineers place the orchestra a little further away from
us, preferring to ensure that all of Stravinsky’s details are
present but not quite so ‘in your face’ the whole time.
Both are very exciting and involving, but in the end the EMI version
is the more wearing. With the BIS disc the low drum thwacks are the
more telling, startling even, by emerging from an orchestra held at
a little more than arms length, and when the climaxes arrive the teeth
are clenched to the point of crumbling Tom & Jerry style. Rattle
is riveting, but the full orchestral sound can be a bit overwhelming
on top of all of the other overwhelming stuff. There are other moments
where I distinctly prefer Litton, for instance in the huge orchestral
‘gong strokes’ about 30 seconds into the
Introduction
of the second part. Rattle delays these a touch and then makes them
into more of a dynamic arch - I’m tempted to use the word ‘rainbow’,
where Litton allows the initial ‘whoom’ to fade with chilling
magic. Litton finds and expresses the unearthly mystery in these points,
where Rattle is more Indiana Jones film-score.
Where the EMI
disc does win is in having access points to each of the titled sections,
whereas BIS just has the first and second parts in two big chunks.
Rattle’s
Symphony of Wind Instruments hasn’t changed
much over the years, the timings between the Birmingham recording and
this Berlin one differing by all of 2 seconds. Rattle’s account
was never really my favourite but this later recording is a winner in
terms of intonation and instrumental colour, and has sold itself well
to my sentimental streak. Stravinsky’s own recording is alas in
historic mono sound and not performed to what you would consider superlative
standards, but at 9:10 the composer’s timing is closer to that
of Boulez in his Deutsche Grammophon version (see
review).
I prefer the music to have a bit more zip earlier on, though Rattle
does have nice tenderness and restraint in the chorales and gentler
central passages, and the low instruments are nicely captured in the
closing minutes.
I agree with
John
Quinn about the quality of performance and recording in
Apollon
musagète over the Birmingham version, but this is a piece
which I feel a bit more uncomfortable in this recording. This is Stravinsky
in neo-classical mode, and while the music deserves expressive playing
I can’t help hearing a certain amount of self-indulgent wallowing
in this performance - it’s just too lush and rich for my taste.
If you prefer a smaller scale
Apollo then Yuri Bashmet and the
Moscow Soloists are hard to beat (see
review),
but that’s something of a chalk and cheese comparison. Robert
Craft and the London Symphony Orchestra on
Naxos
would be a more realistic litmus test of how this can be played without
quite so much red plush on the chocolate box. If you want your
Apollo
to sound more like Richard Strauss then Rattle will be the one for you.
His performance is good and healthily lively in the faster movements,
but the opening
Naissance d’Apollon and little details
such as the overdone string vibrato in the
Variation de Terpsichore
tend to put me off.
Dominy Clements
See also reviews by
John
Quinn and
Michael
Cookson
Masterwork Index:
The
Rite of Spring ~~
Apollon
musagète
